NLR gets loan for sewer fix

State OKs $30M to stem overflows

The Arkansas Natural Resources Commission's board approved a loan of up to $30 million Wednesday for North Little Rock Wastewater to make improvements to its system necessitated by an order from the state over repeated sewer overflows.

North Little Rock applied for the $30 million earlier this year after the City Council approved a $30 million bond issue for the city's second loan related to the order, city spokesman Nathan Hamilton said. The city received a loan of $21 million previously.

"That $30 million will get us to the point where we feel we will have been able to accomplish the goals set forth in the consent decree," Hamilton said. After originally estimating the cost of the fixes to be $104 million, Hamilton said the city now thinks the cost will be about half that, allowing the two loans to cover the whole project.

The 2,814-page consent administrative order agreed to by the city and the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality in December 2010 addresses repeated sewer overflows in places such as Five Mile Creek near a biking trail.

The city has contracted with Marlar Engineering for the project.

As a part of its master plan for the sewer system, the city passed rate increases in five steps, the first of which was put in place in January. The first increase was 8.1 percent, followed by 8.2 percent in 2017, 6.2 percent in 2018, 5.3 percent in 2019 and 4.9 percent in 2020.

The utility has 39,558 customers, when including 7,263 in Maumelle who were billed for the first time last month by the utility. Maumelle, which previously had a water and wastewater system run by an improvement district, had its wastewater system taken over by North Little Rock's in March. The city's sewer bills were raised to match North Little Rock's.

The loan approved Wednesday will be used for various improvements, replacements, reroutings and rehabilitation projects. The city also will use about $7.5 million to $8 million to incorporate Maumelle into the wastewater system.

The loan doesn't yet have established terms, including an annual borrower rate. Cities and utilities often apply for loans through the commission in anticipation of a lower interest rate than they might get elsewhere. Little Rock Wastewater received a $60 million loan for part of its sewer-improvement project earlier this year.

The Natural Resources Commission's board of commissioners approved the North Little Rock loan with no discussion Wednesday morning, along with grants and loans for three other entities.

Commissioners approved a grant of up to $489,250 and a loan of up to $489,250 for the Perry County Levee District No. 1 for levee improvements; a loan of up to $329,600 and a grant of up to $51,500 for the city of Huttig in Union County for a drilling project to replace a well; and a deferred loan of up to $20,600 to the city of Burderre in Mississippi County for an inspection of a deep well.

All of the loans and grants are through the Water Development Fund, except for the loan to North Little Rock, which came from the Arkansas Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund.

Metro on 05/19/2016

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